


what's the deal? [you only treat me like a queen]

by leothequeenn



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: 4am and Cato brings over ice cream lol, AU, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Clato - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Summer, Summer break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 06:32:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7211771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leothequeenn/pseuds/leothequeenn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>it's so surreal [I've always been a little mean]</i><br/>or<br/>It's four am, Clove is awake, Cato is awake and she demands ice cream and company.</p>
            </blockquote>





	what's the deal? [you only treat me like a queen]

**Author's Note:**

> I REALLY MISS CLATO

Clove didn’t expect the boy to show up at her doorstep, especially with the ice cream that she had rudely asked for. Well, to her defense it was four in the morning and she was up, wide awake after having nightmare after nightmare, and she was bored. She wanted someone to come and hang out with her. It was summer break, for God’s sake, and her parents weren’t home. They were busy taking a short trip down to her aunt’s house and while she could’ve gone, she decided not to because she would be bored there, too. They’ve been gone for a few days, only getting back on Monday and so Clove still had about two days left, counting today.

But when she saw the text that said _open the door jesus_ she couldn’t help but crack a smile because he was up, he was coming over _and_ he was bringing her favorite ice cream. There hadn’t been any sweets in the house ever since Clove had gone to high school, her parents were on this crazy diet that apparently doesn’t fit the needs of a growing high school kid who eats a piece of candy and drinks coffee every morning. They had fortunately let her eat some stuff in moderation, since they had begun to do that ever since her dad cracked and ate a whole pan of brownies, but _still._ She was home alone with nothing that was quick to make. Well, not like she’d be able to cook anything, since the only thing she can cook is macaroni and cheese.

But now that he was bringing her favorite ice cream, she felt like this night was going to get a bit sweeter.

She rushed down the stairs, opening up the door and at first, she didn’t expect him to actually have the ice cream. She thought he was joking when he said he brought it, or maybe she thought she was being a bit rude whenever she asked for it, but either way it was in his arms along with a few sodas. He didn’t look too happy though, his eyes looked tired and he was slouching -- not really the kind of guy that people saw. But she had seen it enough and she laughed, pulling him inside and grabbing the ice cream.

“Don’t look at me like that, Cato,” she reminded him, rolling her eyes. “You didn’t _have_ to come over, you know.”

“Or get a pint of ice cream at a gas station at four o’clock in the morning and have the cashier look at you like he’s sympathizing with -- or judging -- your love life, or lack thereof?” Cato rolled his eyes, mocking her actions a few seconds previously before taking a seat on the couch. “You would’ve repeatedly bugged me if I didn’t.” That was probably what would’ve honestly happened. She was always a bit mean and demanding, but even then she was sure that he would’ve came over sooner or later, ice cream or not.

Clove looked like she was thinking that over while she was getting a spoon. “True. I would’ve.” She then headed back over to the couch, turning on the television only to see that there were just infomercials on. “This is why I wanted you over. TV is so boring at night--”

“In the morning,” he corrected her and she refrained from chucking a piece of ice cream at him. She took a scoop out of the pint and ate it, happy that she was with her ice cream. She was happy that she was with Cato too, but the more he started to talk about how stupid he felt at the gas station, the more she just wanted to smack the back of his head. She was bored, wide awake and hungry. She needed someone to just have in her company -- and he was the only one who answered. She didn’t know if he was sleeping beforehand, but he had answered, had gotten her her favorite ice cream and was sitting there in his pajamas talking about the stupid cashier and his stupid feelings. “But seriously, I couldn’t tell if he was judging me or sympathizing with me.”

Clove just rolled her eyes, holding the spoon over by Cato’s mouth. “Just eat the ice cream you worked _so_ hard for,” she teased, and he ate the ice cream with a scowl on his face. “So why again was he judging you on your non-existent love life? He’s a cashier at a gas station.”

“I can’t tell if he was judging or sympathizing, I told you this,” he continued and Clove took another bite of her ice cream, cuddling a bit closer into the blankets and into Cato.

“Alright tough guy, let’s keep in mind it’s four in the morning and while I am wide awake, I’m not doing the best with listening to your lame story. I’m sure he wasn’t judging you, you could probably beat him up if you really wanted to.” Clove kept her eyes on the television, watching something about a vacuum whenever she couldn’t care less. “Plus, you got my ice cream for me and that’s all I really care about. You probably won’t see that guy ever again, unless you go into the gas station at four in the morning.” Cato let out a little laugh, placing his arm around her shoulders like it was just the natural thing to do -- and she kind of figured it really _was_ the natural thing to do.

“The only reason I’ll be going to a gas station at four in the morning is to get you some ice cream. Other than that, it can wait until daylight.” Cato said, glancing up at the television like he hadn’t just promised to get her ice cream again. Weird. She thought this was going to be a one time thing -- she figured he would just go on about his day like he hadn’t woken up at four to get her ice cream and to watch infomercials with her.

Was it going to happen again?

Clove sighed a bit and continued to eat her ice cream in silence, ever so often looking up at Cato to see that he had been dozing off a bit. She startled him awake, in which he grumbled, “I thought since you had your ice cream that I would actually get the chance to sleep.”

“You know me, I’ve always been a little mean.” The girl grinned, taking a bite of her ice cream. “We’re watching infomercials. Wake up a bit and buy the vacuum they keep talking about.”

“I’m not going to buy a stupid vacuum from an infomercial.” Cato mumbled back almost immediately, like he was offended Clove would even speak those words. The girl just laughed, finishing off the rest of what she wanted from her ice cream, giving her friend one last bite before she got up, putting it in the freezer and placing the spoon in the sink. Cato was mumbling something to her again, something about how the sun was going to be up soon but she ignored it for now, walking back and sitting back down next to him. “What do you say?” he asked her, and she blinked a few times at him. “You weren’t listening, were you?”

“Cato, what did I tell you about listening?” Clove reminded him, nudging his shoulder. “I know you at least said something about the sun.”

“Very good, Clove!” he teased, gaining a slight shove from her as a reward. “No, seriously though. I was saying we should watch the sun come up instead of these stupid infomercials.”

Whoa. What?

Had Cato just discreetly asked her if she wanted to watch the sunrise with him? Wow. Kind of romantic for a guy who didn’t really seem like the type to be romantic. He was a wrestler at their school, all ready to tackle anyone who challenged him. She didn’t really think he was romantic -- but then again, neither was she. Being a loner with a bad attitude didn’t really make her have many friends, let alone relationships with people. But Cato was her friend, has been her friend ever since they were little. He stuck up for her, just as much as she could stick up for herself. She returned the favor, but no one really wanted to get into fights with a wrestler and so she was just known for being the little witch on Cato’s shoulder.

Either way, they weren’t known for romance. But maybe, just maybe, there was a bit of a lie to that. He did show up at her door at four in the morning with pajamas on and a pint of her favorite ice cream (bunny tracks) in his hand. He did discreetly ask to go watch the sunrise together, and she did want to say yes.

Sure, she had thought about Cato like that many times beforehand, who wouldn’t, but the fact that she never had a relationship before meant that she never really knew how to bring it up that she _kinda maybe_ liked him. She also just figured he would go for taller, prettier blond girls -- not to deprecate herself too much, but she wasn’t tall, she wasn’t rich and well, she wasn’t that Glimmer chick that had been hanging around them for the past few months. She didn’t know _how_ exactly Glimmer ended up in their little circle, reserved for only her, Cato, and a friend named Marvel who was always eyeing some redheaded girl, but she ended up there and ever since then, Clove’s been a bit more possessive over her friends. Cato, especially. But the fact that _he_ brought up a sunrise thing first made Clove’s body hurt.

Oh God. He was just looking at her, probably waiting for an answer. “Um, yeah, we can go out on the deck and watch it,” she said, quickly standing up and grabbing a spare blanket that she could take out with them. “What brought that all up?” she asked, arching an eyebrow over at the blond boy. To her disdain, though, he just shrugged and stood, which wasn’t really the answer she thought she was going to get, but then again they didn’t _do_ romance.

Though, it was pretty romantic. The sky was turning out to be a pretty pink color as the sun started to rise above the horizon. Clove had set the blanket down on the wood and sprawled out on it, effectively making Cato laugh and making him sit on the wood beside her. She gave him a little smirk as she returned her attention to the sky, eventually propping herself up on her elbows to see the sun rise up.

“So why again did you bring me bunny tracks and kept me company?” Clove asked mindlessly, watching the trees sway in the early morning breeze. She realized after a minute that he hadn’t responded and she glanced over at him to find that he was looking at the patterns on the wooden floor. “hey, AristoCatos, did you hear me?” She had used the nickname that Marvel had found, but it was one that she adopted as her own and used more often than she should.

“Yeah, I heard you, even though it is around five in the morning.” Cato teased, glancing over at her before copying her stance and resting on his elbows. “I know you would’ve bitten my head off if you knew that I was awake but I wasn’t coming to see you.”

“So romantic,” she deadpanned, glancing at the sky instead of him. “I’m not that mean,” she said and he laughed. “Okay, I am a little mean. But still. So romantic.” She repeated her first sentence with the same amount of sarcasm she had in the first place, and he nudged her shoulder with his own.

“Excuse you, I _am_ romantic, I got you ice cream and came here. If I wasn’t romantic, I’d be at home sleeping instead of watching the sunrise with you, too. Lord knows how much I love sleep, so you're welcome.” The two made eye contact and Clove watched him carefully. He was smiling at her, a teasing half-smile that he always did whenever he was flirting. She always saw him do it with other girls, but she never thought he would do it to her. 

He did have a point, but Clove was still confused. She thought he liked what Glimmer had? How was freckled-covered skin and dark hair ever supposed to win over flawless skin and blond hair? Okay, Glimmer wasn’t really that bad, it wasn’t her fault she was probably born gorgeous, and it wasn’t her fault that she transferred from another school and just happened to make friends with her and Cato. It was just that Clove always compared herself to the taller, prettier girl. Honestly, she hated doing it -- especially for a guy -- but it was hard not to. Ugh. What was she doing?

“Okay, that’s true,” she said in lack of anything better to say. It fell silent between them again as the sun started to rise, coming up the sky slowly. She could tell that it was nearing around five thirty AM, since that was usually whenever the light started to show in the summer. Something still bothered her, though. The fact that he was still there bothered her. Why was he still there whenever he was clearly half asleep and could be in his bed at the moment, sleeping instead? He had said something about it being ‘romantic’ but that still confused her. “We should probably go to bed now,” she whispered whenever the sun continued to make its way up the sky. “You know, since we practically stayed up all night.”

Cato grinned over at her before helping her pick up the blanket and walk back inside, making sure to close and lock the sliding glass door behind him. Clove figured he was going to say something about sleeping downstairs, but she just hazily grabbed his hand and trudged upstairs, collapsing on her bed once inside her bedroom. Once she had brought up the idea of sleeping, she felt like her body was slowing down, preparing itself for hibernation. She pulled Cato down onto the bed with her, said something about how the sunrise was kinda romantic, how the whole thing was kinda romantic, and even though she had been a bit mean to him, had said _thank you_ before drifting off to sleep. She couldn't remember much of what happened after that. 

She did, however, feel whenever Cato pulled her closer to him before he too fell asleep, and she couldn’t help but have good dreams for a change.

Because maybe, just _maybe_ , they did do romance.

**Author's Note:**

> this was written at midnight so ♥ hope you enjoyed.


End file.
